Analytical instruments in the field of in-vitro diagnostics, especially high-throughput analyzers, consume a high quantity of consumables within a relatively short period of time. Existing systems often require both consumable solid parts and liquids. The consumable solid parts include reaction vessels like plates or tubes in which samples are provided to the instrument and in which they are processed and analyzed. Liquid consumables include reagents for interacting with liquid samples and initiating biochemical reactions eventually leading to analysis of the samples. Liquid consumables may be provided within bulk containers or reagent cassettes. Solid as well as liquid consumables are usually separately loaded onto the system prior to use and removed therefrom in the same way after assay completion. Hence, analytical apparatuses commonly require loading of solid consumables and reagents within reagent containers in order to be able to perform the analytical process. These supplies are transported to and loaded onto the system, and, after usage, constitute waste that has to be removed from the system and discarded.
Especially in the case of high-throughput analyzers causing a high rate of test material consumption and, accordingly, a high production of waste, the above-described separate loading is typically labor-intensive and time-consuming. The process requires time slots during which processing or analysis of biological samples is idle and the user is occupied with the system. Moreover, user-system-interactions can be error-prone and necessitate specially trained personnel. Especially clinical samples, including the respective waste, often contain infectious biomaterial such as viruses or pathogenic bacteria. The samples, on the other hand, often need to be prevented from being cross-contaminated with other analytes in order not to cause false-positive results, particularly in the case of highly sensitive analysis methods such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or immunochemical assays. In this context, manual waste handling steps may constitute an important safety issue since the risk of contamination for both system and user is increased. Furthermore, supply and waste collection units functionally coupled to the system with the aim of reducing manual handling steps usually take up extra space and require further automated transfer mechanisms.
Overall, processing speed as well as analytical flexibility are reduced significantly. This represents a major issue especially in the high-throughput sector, where the total system downtime due to resourcing plays an increasingly important role for operational as well as economical reasons.
Existing approaches include the usage of reagent packs. For instance, WO 2009/062722 discloses an analytical device which is supplied with liquids by a fluid pack, the latter carrying waste containers for fluid waste produced within the analyzer.